The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) is now investigating White's confession and is seeking further information from US authorities about the evidence against him.

But despite White standing down from his GreenEDGE position, general manager Shayne Bannan says his team will wait on the ASADA verdict before taking the matter further with White.

We are in certainly no rush because we understand the situation and will wait until the ASADA outcome and then we can go through a process from there.

GreenEDGE general manager Shayne Bannan

"We're just waiting for the process to take its course," Bannan said.

"Cycling Australia have made their decision. I believe that Matt will be meeting with ASADA over this coming period.

"We are in certainly no rush because we understand the situation and will wait until the ASADA outcome and then we can go through a process from there."

For CA, White's own words were enough - he was a drug user and he had to go.

"His conduct was not consistent with the high standards that Cycling Australia has and to protect the integrity of our program and to communicate very clearly to all our members and the public the stand we take against doping, it was to some extent a no-brainer," said CA president Klaus Mueller.

But GreenEDGE appears to want to look forwards rather than back at a past that has so shamed the sport of cycling.

"As we've found out over this past few days there was a really dark time for cycling back in the early 2000s," Bannan said.

"Matt has been with us for a year-and-a-half and the value that he's brought to the team in its set-up, in the way he has gone about his business, has been exceptional.

"So we're certainly not taking this decision lightly and will make the best decision in the best interests of the team."

"When I was at [Armstrong's] house in Nice, France, I asked him for some [EPO] and he kindly said 'Yeah, no problem'. And it was just on the inside door of his refrigerator, just in the box that it came in."

Moscow's words and actions — including the alleged poisoning of a former spy — are not the results of random aggression but rather fall into distinct patterns that can help us anticipate Russia's next moves under Vladimir Putin.